Bus Schedule Troubles Plague Killingly Students, Parents

By Denise Coffey

Reminder News|

Sep 08, 2015 | 12:40 PM

When Board of Education members and Superintendent Kevin Farr met with the Town Council on Sept. 1, the first order of business was addressing the failures of the bus transportation system, which was late getting children to school and home again.

There were delays of up to 45 minutes in morning pick-ups and some children didn't return home until after 5 p.m. Michael Gottlieb's son was one of them.

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"I'm very concerned about the planning that was done after the school restructuring," he said.

School officials consolidated and reconfigured classes at the Killingly Central School and Killingly Memorial School this year. All pre-K, kindergarten, and grade one students are attending Killingly Central School and students in grades two through four are attending Killingly Memorial School. Those plans have thrown a monkey wrench into the transportation plans.

"I understand glitches," Gottlieb said. "But a major change needs to take place to fix this issue. It's causing unnecessary stress and anxiety on the kids."

Board of Education Chair Alexis Rich and Farr both agreed that the delays were unacceptable, as some children didn't get home until 6 p.m.

"What we didn't take into account was how long it would take 390 kindergarteners and first graders to safely get onto our transportation system," Farr said.

He said fixing the problem would mean getting the bus schedules properly realigned.

Rich said that schedules for other schools have been impacted, but to a lesser degree. Transportation Supervisor Linda Records was considering a hybrid system to create new runs and split up the elementary schools. According to Records, last year, buses racked up more than 650,000 miles transporting approximately 2,600 students.

"We are working diligently to make this right for our parents and to earn their trust back," Farr said. "We will fix this."

Board of Education member Hoween Flexer said staff at KCS and KMS have done a remarkable job keeping children calm during the long waits, and Richard Murray praised the bus drivers for their efforts.

"They were at the forefront of the complaints and they did an amazing job," he said.

Bus runs will be re-posted early next week, according to a message on the school's website on Sept. 3. Parents with questions were urged to call the transportation office at 860-779-6790 or the central office at 860-779-6600.